Joe Hart told BBC coverage that the Trionda ball used at this World Cup is behaving strangely on long shots. Both Mbappé and Messi have scored from distance with keepers looking flat-footed. Hart's theory: the ball is dipping or moving late in ways goalkeepers are not reading. Something is up with the equipment.
England drew 0-0 with Ghana. Wayne Rooney, on BBC co-commentary, said Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham need to slow the tempo when Ghana sits deep. The criticism is tactical: England have pace, but no structure for breaking compact defending. Bellingham rejected his man-of-the-match award afterward, saying nobody deserved it.
Carlo Ancelotti has named the same Brazil side that beat Haiti, except for injured Raphinha. Neymar is fit but starts on the bench. Ancelotti told L'Équipe that Neymar can play ninety minutes walking. The comment reads like permission, not praise.
Gary Neville told ITV that Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice against Uzbekistan because Joao Cancelo gave him the ball in the right positions. Portugal won 5-0. Ronaldo became the first player to score at six World Cups. Neville did not mention age, legacy, or whether Ronaldo is finished.
The Versailles appeal court confirmed Friday that Achraf Hakimi will stand trial on rape charges dating to 2023. He denies the allegation. Hours later he started for Morocco at the World Cup in Massachusetts. Scottish supporters whistled him every time he touched the ball.
Bernardo Silva signed for Real Madrid on a free transfer, two years to 2028. He left City when his contract expired. José Mourinho is the new Madrid manager. Silva is 31.
NOTE TO EDITOR (delete before publishing): FourFourTwo headline is strongly opinionated; verify if Martínez actually addressed Ronaldo's role post-match or if this is purely press analysis.
Portugal drew 1-1 with DR Congo in Houston. Cristiano Ronaldo struggled. The British press is calling him the weak link. That framing treats selection as Roberto Martínez's problem. It is not. Ronaldo is Portugal's most famous export and the press knows Martínez cannot bench him.
José Mourinho's first signing in his second Real Madrid spell will be Bernardo Silva. BBC reports the deal is close. Silva is 31, has won five Premier League titles and the Champions League. Madrid expect it finished soon.
Edin Dzeko is 40 years old. This is his final World Cup. Bosnia-Herzegovina drew 1-1 with Canada in the co-hosts' opener. The BBC ran a feature calling him underappreciated. That word has followed him his entire career. Survived war, scored goals across three leagues, lifted trophies. Still described as if the record needs defending.
Joe Cole has put a line on the record. England will reach a moment under pressure where the game needs taking by the scruff of the neck. That moment is structural. It arrives in every tournament. Cole, who played two World Cups, is naming what England have historically lacked: the player who assumes responsibility when the script stops working.
Christian Eriksen collapsed during Denmark's friendly against Ukraine on Sunday. He was conscious when transferred to hospital. The Danish federation's doctor says he is in good spirits and expected to be discharged soon. His pacemaker, fitted after his 2021 cardiac arrest, likely saved him again. He is 34. The retirement question is public now.
Real Madrid submitted a €150m offer for Julián Alvarez. Atlético Madrid turned it down and mocked their rivals on social media: "You make us laugh even more than Barcelona." Arsenal remain in the market. Barcelona are still circling. Atlético have said they will not entertain any offer.
Aston Villa won the Europa League with a goalkeeper who had broken his finger before kickoff. The story is older than that, and the English press still does not quite know what to do with it.
Pep Guardiola is reportedly leaving Manchester City after a title surrendered on the final day. The succession question is the obvious story. The more interesting one is what the English press does now.
Four weeks before the World Cup, three pre-tournament narratives I expect the press to get wrong. On record so I can be specifically wrong rather than vaguely right.
The blog has been built on a particular kind of knowing. Sitting in a room. Watching matches on screens.
One thing the press got right is that he scored a lot of goals. Almost everything else has been wrong. Mbappé in his second Madrid season, properly understood.
Two weeks after the CAF decision, the discourse has settled into three positions and none of them is helpful. The structural reform that needs to happen.
The CAF Appeal Board overturned the final today. Senegal will appeal to CAS. I do not believe this decision will hold. Here is the procedural argument.
Five different Arabic-language broadcasts of the AFCON final's final fifteen minutes. What the European audience never heard.
Past the three-year mark. The honest assessment of what the Saudi project has and has not produced, and what the European press still cannot process.
Regragui left two weeks after the final. The European press framed it as inevitable. The framing missed the point.
The European press is calling it embarrassing. The North African press is calling it a calculated protest. What the walk-off actually revealed about who African players can appeal to.
What actually happened on the pitch in the AFCON final before the discourse swallowed it whole. The moments deserve at least one piece of writing.
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Independent football writing by Amer M.
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